TULSI(Ocimum sanctum)
Modern science has established that this
modest aromatic shrub perceptibly purifies
the air within a wide radius of its vicinity,
proving most effective just before sunrise,
the time when it is ritually circled by
the devout. Perhaps this is why Hindu
myths say the king of death himself gives
way before this holy shrub, and why each
year, at the waxing of the autumn moon,
the plant is married in a religious ritual
to one of the three gods of the Hindu
trinity, Vishnu the preserver. Any domestic
courtyard which is centered around the
holy basil is considered in India a place
of peace, piety, and virtue. The plant’s
roots symbolize religious pilgrimage ,
its branches divinity, its crown an understanding
of the scriptures. Traditionally, once
the shrub has been planted in an Indian
courtyard it is nurtured for three months
before it is worshipped with offerings
of rice, flowers, and lighted lamps. After
that, virgins pray to the holy basil for
husbands, married women for domestic peace
and prosperity. Medically, the plant provides
a pharmacopoeia for the entire household.
Its leaves are crushed in honey and used
to cure coughs, colds, and bronchitis,
and to reduce fevers. An infusion of basil
leaves and ginger is India’s most
popular remedy for stomachaches in children.
Its essential oil is an antiseptic and
insect repellent, while its root, reduced
to paste, soothes bites and stings, acting
even as a antidote to snake venom and
scorpion Bites. .